The literary translation of Camilleri's series of detective stories featuring Inspector Montalbano are the subject of annual seminars (2013-2016) organised by the University of Cagliari. The forthcoming conference, "Ragusa and Montalbano: translating Camilleri’s regionalised voices in AVT" (Ragusa, 19-20 October 2017), is also a response to those studies and research.

However, Montalbano’s global fame is undeniably closely linked to the incredible success of the television series produced by Palomar for RAI TV. Ever since its first season in 1999, Montalbano/Zingaretti's success has equally been the success of Ragusa, and the Ibleo territory in general.

The University of Catania's School of Foreign Languages and Literatures situated in Ragusa Ibla aims to foster in-depth explorations on the theme of Montalbano, that pivot around three main areas of research: